Adobe Express vs. iStock, from Getty Images

I needed to create quarterly safety training posters. In the past, I have used Canva. But in Canva's free version, your options are limited. So off to AE I went. I was able to find four templates to help me create my four posters. I found templates that looked like a movie poster, and the results were so professional looking. It was easy to add my own pictures from my computer to further personalize the posters. I loved them so much I made them into movie poster size printouts, sprayed some liquid glue on a styroboard, and hung them up around our offices. Our employees loved them too, and it drummed up more people to attend my sessions.

Incentivized

iStock has a huge variety of stuff that allows the graphic designers we work with to have a huge archive to choose from. This lets them have great creative freedom and piece together assets that cover the brief, however the huge amount of variety means they have to be specific when looking for assets, as the brief they're given doesn't always match up with the images chosen- however this is more user error and learning than the product itself

Incentivized

• Out-of-the-box templates save a lot of time and effort for designers and new users.
• Collaboration to share resources and monitor task status centrally.
• Great design elements bring a wow factor to digital content.
• Single design tool for all types of content design.

Incentivized

• search features
• similar image search features
• style
• fresh assortment - updated and on trend
• wide variety

Incentivized

• Canva has a better interface, in my opinion... I like that this one is friendly to Adobe users, but I would likely recommend Canva to someone who's never used design software for a complete beginner.
• Removing the background from images doesn't always work well. I almost always need to switch to Photoshop for this.
• The touch screen interface could be better; graphics on mobile apps are tough in general but specifically, the iPad interface could use some improvement.

Incentivized

• Provide more niche photography areas
• Offer more natural or realistic photography
• Maybe offer a good discount on bundles of images

Incentivized

I use it daily for almost all my marketing needs. So far it is the program that has the most and best to offer for what I need and is the easiest to use

Incentivized

The overall usability of the software was strong. The application, especially relative to other Adobe services like Photoshop that can demand a lot of knowledge and skill, was highly easy to use. At the same time, that also speaks to the somewhat limited amount of customization opportunities that allow content designers to truly create content that is dynamic, engaging, and different than the standard stuff that floods our vision every day.

Incentivized

Because adobe is so widespread the community support is amazing. I have never actually used adobe support short of their website, but I go to youtube a lot to get my questions answered. You can google any problem you have and not have any issues finding an answer. In my opinion, community support is much more meaningful and helpful than support directly from the company

Incentivized

For users already in the Adobe ecosystem, Adobe Express is a great tool to consider for it's modern, professional templates, impressive stock image library and the easy drag-and-drop tools. I mostly do most of my work on desktop, but I know Canva is generally better for mobile usability and its got more third-party integrations that may be important to some users.

Incentivized

iStock in my opinion is probably the leading stock image distribution service at the moment and has definitely become a trusted source for stock images, video, animations and audio. Unsplash has a better library of organic photography but can be a bit lacking as it replies on photographers having images of certain styles, though I like the concept and working closely to give exposure to artists. Adobe Stock is a newer service in comparison so it will take time to build the same level in my opinion but I am a avid Adobe user so will watch that space.

Incentivized

• It has allowed us to complete more demos and projects in less time by being so flexible.
• It has positively impacted our efficiency in delivering creatives such as YouTube thumbnails, event poster designs, Instagram story posts, etc to clients in a timely manner no matter where work takes us.
• I would say the ROI has been seeing more projects completed and invoiced per month. I would estimate overall a 20% increase in volume on deliverables.

Incentivized

• visual interest
• client satisfaction

Incentivized